To kick off the new season, internationally renowned conductor Robert Spano leads the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra in an evening of American masterworks anchored by Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Orchestra—in the composer’s words, “truly a concerto in that it requires virtuosity from the principal players, the individual sections, and the entire orchestra.” Barber’s Symphony in One Movement runs the emotional gamut, from kinetic energy to tender beauty and sweeping, cinematic drama. Soprano Michelle Bradley joins the orchestra for Barber’s dreamy and nostalgic Knoxville: Summer of 1915, which recounts the sights, sounds, and musings of a peaceful summer evening from a child’s point of view.
Repertoire
Barber: Symphony No. 1 in One Movement
Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Jennifer Higdon: Concerto for Orchestra
Stay in your seats after the performance for a short Post-Concert Chat with Shepherd School Dean Matthew Loden and guest artists!
Artists
Robert Spano, conductor, pianist, composer, and teacher, is known worldwide for the intensity of his artistry and distinctive communicative abilities, creating a sense of inclusion and warmth among musicians and audiences that is unique among American orchestras. After twenty seasons as Music Director, he will continue his association with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as Music Director Laureate. An avid mentor to rising artists, he is responsible for nurturing the careers of numerous celebrated composers, conductors, and performers. As Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2011, he oversees the programming of more than 300 events and educational programs for 630 students and young performers. Principal Guest Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since 2019, Spano became Music Director Designate on April 1, 2021, and began an initial three-year term as Music Director in August 2022. He is the tenth Music Director in the orchestra’s history, which was founded in 1912.
Michelle Bradley, a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, is beginning to garner great acclaim as one of today’s most promising Verdi sopranos.
This season Ms. Bradley debuts with the San Francisco Opera as Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites and returns to the Metropolitan Opera as the title-role in Aida, a role she will also perform for the Fort Worth Opera. She will return to the San Diego Opera as the title-role in Tosca and will debut in Japan as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center. In concert Ms. Bradley will sing the soprano soloists in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Eva Ollikainen at the Hollywood Bowl and in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the Baltimore Symphony and James Conlon. Future projects include a return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago in a leading role.